Did You Know?
Parkway construction began in September of 1935 at Cumberland Knob near the North Carolina and Virginia state line (at Milepost 217.5). Photo from NPS Archives
Ricky Cox
Associate
Appalachian Regional Studies Center - Radford University
Ricky Cox is an Instructor in the Department of English and an Associate of the Appalachian Regional Studies Center at Radford University in Radford, VA. He teaches courses in American Literature and Appalachian Folklore and an introductory course in Appalachian Studies. He co-edited A Handbook to Appalachia: An Introduction to the Region (2006) with Grace Toney Edwards and JoAnn Asbury and is a co-author with the late Frank Webb of the forthcoming Water Over the Dam, The Water-Powered Mills of Floyd County, VA.
Ricky is a life-long resident of the New River Valley and a native of Floyd County, VA, where he lives with his wife, Molly Brennan Cox, and stepson Conor Hand.
Presentation
Too Much of a Good Thing: Unintended Consequences of Tourism in the Southern Appalachians
Historically, tourism in these southern mountains has been, in the words of C. Brenden Martin, “a double-edged sword,” both economically and culturally. Large-scale tourism may bring newfound economic prosperity, but it can alter the characteristics of an area in subtle yet significant ways. This presentation will invite the audience to bear in mind what can happen, despite the best of intentions, when long-term costs are ignored in the pursuit of short-term benefits. Communities along the Parkway region have a responsibility to balance the demands and development of a mature tourism industry with the protection and conservation of the natural and cultural resources that make this region so desirable in the first place.
